Rail clamp



June 1 1954 N. L. TILLEY RAIL CLAMP Filed Sept. 16, 1952 Norman L. Til/ey INVENTOR.

'to in general by the reference numeral Hi.

Patented June I, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAIL CLAMP Norman L. Tilley, Fisher, Ark. Application September 16, 1952, Serial No. 309,769

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates in general to accessories for railroad tracks, and more specifically to a rail clamp for railroad rails.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved rail clamp which may be utilized to simultaneously form a bearing surface for railroad rails and at the same time rigidly clamp the same to a cross-tie.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved rail plate which is adapted to be mounted beneath railroad rails for clamping the position, said rail clamp of a relatively simple construction whereby the same may be quickly and easily installed and removed.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved rail clamp which may be utilized for supporting and clamping railroad rails to cross-ties, said rail clamp being so constructed and designed whereby the same may be utilized for automatically spacing railroad rails to the desired spacing.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of eletrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a section of a railroad track and shows rails of the same clamped to and supported from cross-ties by rail plate construction which this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 22 of Figure 1 and shows the relationship of the rail tion to rails and a cross-tie; and,

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective exploded view of the rail plate construction and shows the details thereof.

Similar characters of similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the different views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the rail plate construction, which is the subject of this invention, is referred The rail plate construction l includes a first rail plate member l2 and a second rail plate member l4 which are adapted to coact for the purplate construcreference designate are the subject of '1" pose of supporting and clamping railroad rails to a cross-tie.

It will be noted that the rail plate member l2 includes an elongated plate It which has overlying a portion of the plate [6 and secured thereto by a suitable fastener 22. It will be understood that the flange 22 may be also secured to the plate is by any other suitable fastening means including welding. The rail clamping element It also includes a second flange 24 which is integral with the first flange 20 and extends inwardly and upwardly therefrom. It will be noted that the rail clamp element l8 has an end portion thereof which extends beyond an edge of the plate I 6.

Also carried by the plate It is a second rail clamping element which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 26. clamping element 26 is positioned a distance inthereto by a suitable fastener 36. The rail clamping element 26 also includes an outwardly and upwardly directed second flange 32 which is in spaced relation to the plate !6. It will also be noted that the rail clamping element 26 also extends outwardly of an edge of the plate Hi from the same side as does the rail clamping element It.

The rail plate member I4 also includes an elongated plate 34 which has secured adjacent one end thereof a rail clamping element 36.

in spaced relation to the plate 34. The rail clamping element 35 projects beyond one edge of the plate 34 for engagement over the plate It.

general by the 44. The rail clamping element 44 includes a horizontal flange 46 which overlies a portion of the plate 34 and is secured thereto by a suitable fastener 48. The rail clamping member 44 also includes a flange 50 integral with the flange and extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom in spaced relation with respect to the plate 34. It will be noted that the rail clamping member 44 projects over a side edge of the plate 34 in the same direction as does the rail clamping member 36.

It will be noted that the flange 28 of the rail clamping member I8 is provided in the overhanging portion thereof with an aperture 52 which is in alignment with an aperture 54 in an adjacent end of the plate 34. Also, the flange 46 is providedcwith an aperture 56 in itsprojecting portion which is in alignment with an aperture 58 in an inwardly spaced portion of the plate l6.

At the other ends of i2 and hi, the flange the rail plate members 38 is provided with an aperture Bil which is in alignment withan' aperture 82 in the opposite endof the plate it. The flange 28 also has an aperture 54 in its projecting portion which is aligned with an aperture in an inwardly spaced portion of the plate 34.

The plates is and 34 are furthermodiiied in that the plate H is provided with. an elongated groove 68' of a size to receive an elongated tongue I8 projecting from onesideoi' the plate 3 Referring now to Figures 1 and v2, it will be seen that there is-illustrated a railroad track construction which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 12. The railroad track construction '12 includes aplurality of cross-ties M on which are mounted in spaced parallel rela tion elongated railroad. rails '55 and i8. Overlying each of the cross-tiesild and underlying the railroad rails and-l8 is'a rail plate construction Hi the rail plate construction it forming a hearing surface for the railroad rails it and i8 and clamping the same to the cross-ties it in the proper spaced relation.

It will be noted that when. the rail. plate constructions in are properly positioned on the cross-ties 14 in railclamping relation, that each of the samehas its tongue 19 received within the groove 58' and the projecting portions of the rail clamping members 18, 26, 3t and l i overlying the plates i6 and 35. At the same time, the flanges 24, 32, 42 and 58, respectively, thereof overlie bases. of the rails 14 and 'ifito clamp the same. After the railplate members i2 and i l have been so positioned, the sameare secured to their respective cross-ties by driving a-spike 38' or the like through the aligned aperture 52 audit. A similarspike 82 is driven through the aligned apertures 56 andfifi, a spike. 84 is driven through the aligned apertures 64 and and a spike 865 isdriven through-the aligned apertures 60 and 62.

Due to the novel construction of the railplate members l2 and it, it will be seen that they may be quickly positioned between the rails '55. and i8 and the cross-ties "i4 and secured in place by four spikes. It will also benoted that the spikes not only position the rail plate members 52 and but cause the same to tightly clamp the rails I6 and 7B in position.

Inasmuch as the rail plate members 12 and I4 are positioned with respect to each other by both the tongue and the groove connection and the aligned overlying apertures, it will be seen that the relationship of the rails it to the rails I8 is fixed. By manufacturing the rail plate constructions it for a specific type of railroad ,cited objects and drawings.

) Number 18, when clamped to the cross-ties 14 by the rail plate construction 10, will be set at the proper gauge and gauging of the track will be unnecessary. Inasmuch as railroad lines having heavy trafiic travel thereover require re-gauging at regular intervals, it will be seen that the automatic gauging feature of the rail plate construction it! will be a labor-saving feature which in addition to the labor-saving manner of installation will prove the rail plate constructions Hi to be economically feasible.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoing description of the details thereof, taken in connection with the above re- Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from the embodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, claimed as new is:

1. A rail plate construction for clamping railroad rails to cross-ties, said rail plate construction including a pair of plates having opposite end portions adapted to underlie spaced rails, each plate having adjacent one end a first transverse clamp element adapted to overlie a rail base, second transverse clamp elements carried by said plates spaced inwardly from the other ends thereof, a first clamp element of one plate being cooperable with a second clamp element of the other plate to clamp a rail in an adjusted position, each of said first and second clamp elements extending beyond an edge of its plate and overlying the other plate, fastening means passable through said clamp elements-and an under lying portion of a plate for securing the same to a cross-tie.

2. A rail plate construction for clamping railroad rails to cross-ties, said rail plate construction including a pair of plates having opposite end portions adapted to underlie spaced rails, each plate havin adjacent one end a first transverse clamp element adapted to overlie a rail base, second transverse clamp elements carried by said plates spaced inwardly from the other ends thereof, a first clamp element of one plate being cooperable with a second clamp element of the other plate to clamp a rail in an adjusted position, each of said first and second clamp elements extending beyond an edge of its plate and rail, the rails 16 and what is overlying the other plate, said plates being interconnected against shifting in the direction of their lengths by an elongated tongue and groove joint extending a major portion of the lengths of said plates, said clamp elements having lengths equal to the combined widths of said plates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Stout llov. 3.5, 1994 Bahr Mar. 12, 190? Turner Dec. 10, 1907 Bergen Jan. 23, 1912 

